Hi most community colleges excel at trades. We have a local one however... my son is in his 20's. He just bought a house and is doing general construction. He wants to get out and do a specialized trade but he can't dedicate daytime hours to a local community college program. Looking at Ashworth College. They have lots of affordable stuff (Plumbing, Electrical, etc.). Any thoughts on this? Any good competitors? He works 12 hours a day and can't take a year off and still make his house payment. If he got one of their certs he could potentially go to an employer and get started in an apprecticeship.
There are many things I would want to learn by distance, but I'm not sure plumbing and electrical are among them.
Ashworth is alright, you can go for their parent company, Penn Foster instead (since they purchased Ashworth a few years ago). Instead of a career diploma, an Associates would carry more weight. They have 5 associates Construction, Engineering, Electronics, Industrial Supervision, Manufacturing; he can ladder up to a bachelors afterwards. The certificates or diplomas aren't worth it, for the extra tuition/fees, I'd still fork out a little more for the Associates as it can ladder upwards later. One thing I would do is, take a few months of Sophia.org and transfer those credits into Penn Foster, they allow 75% of the degree transferred in. Then complete the courses that can't be transferred at Penn Foster.
I graduated with a Career Diploma in Forensic Science. While the workbooks had DIY forensic science experiments, I didn't do them. I think certain things are best learned in person or at least with required hands-on experiences. I wouldn't want to learn plumbing or electrical fully online.
I didn't think that I needed to spell it out but... you combine something like this with an apprenticeship. It allows you to go to an employer with the book knowledge in your back pocket.
You combine something like this with an apprenticeship. It allows you to go to an employer with the book knowledge in your back pocket.
Chris beats that. He has a PhD, two Masters, and two Ashworth degrees in his back pocket. I think his nickname is "Deep Pockets."
Why? I wouldn't pay for this stuff out of my own pocket these days. Check the local job listings. There should be plenty of employers who will pay you to go to school. Want to be a plumber or whatever? Look for the no-experience-required ads that talk about getting certified/licensed, etc. You're locked into one employer for a set number of years, (usually 1-3 after graduation, IIRC) to "pay back" the education. But you're kind of stuck as an apprentice anyway, until you qualify for your own license. I think that apprenticeship period could be even longer if you try to go your own way first.
Hello! As no thread is complete without groupon these days: has anyone an informed opinion about that one here? https://www.groupon.com/deals/brick-certification-llc Best regards, Mac Juli
Yeah, right. You take this $128 course, lay some bricks at home and walk out with a job.... tell me another one. And if that doesn't work out, maybe you try the nuevo propio coupon in rocket science... I think this is much like learning electrical or plumbing at home... not the way for me, on these trades. I went to the school site and their main offering is a $5,000 to $25,000 full-on bricklaying and masonry course at their location. That's why they're offering the cheapie. It's a gateway... The price on the full course varies, $5K - 25K they say, as the course is personalized. I've taken some house-building courses - I have a CoCo Certificate, from evening classes, in Residential Construction and Design. I did drafting (complete house plans - still have them) , plumbing, electrical intro's, framing (quite a bit of math there) in the College facitities on campus. They had a great setup. And there were a couple of semesters of theory and construction practices classes - building codes etc. in regular classrooms. Good instruction - from teachers who were in the business. One was chief building inspector for the City. I poked around the other Groupon offerings at the bottom of the page. There was a $2500 Software Engineering Bundle on sale for $62. Looked interesting - then I read the reviews. Lot of negative ones. People were saying it wasn't worth even the $62 and they'll never deal with the co. again. I buy cheap courses -sometimes. But I like to stick with known suppliers - Alison, Udemy, etc. Works for me. Had some great ones. There will be more this winter. No soy Grouponista.
There aren't ANY such ads around here, period. Not for a long long time. A lot of people here would say they're a myth. I won't. Closest you'll get here, unless you get into a regular apprenticeship program, is a Government-paid course for unemployed at college or private trade school. You get paid unemployment insurance while you learn. Finish and you're pretty well on your own to find a job, among a pool of (a) experienced, skilled people, (b) all the other newly hatched, somewhat-trained applicants, and (c) those with no experience or training. Maybe it's better where you live, Rachel. I hope it is. I really do.
There are some bright spots in that scenario. There are some special Government-run programs , e.g. for Women in Trades and for Aboriginal persons. I know some of the Women's programs have paid internships that very often result in permanent jobs after graduation. The starting pay is pretty good and the person progresses, and gets regular pay increases until they gain experienced, fully-qualified tradesperson status -- and the very good pay that goes with it. But ads like those you described? I think it's been decades...
I have lots of strange ideas To be specific... this path would allow my son to continue working in his current job, pay his house payment, and then make the transition later. I probably should have spelled that out better. Blessings to you.
Agreed. We have explored this. I should have shared... I have a stubborn son and he needs to maintain his current level of income for a year or two. This path would allow him to build for the future while he keeps his day job. The jump to an apprenticeship would be a year or two from now. To be frank... he's a bit burned out and this would build hope. I finished my undergrad and grabbed a bunch of stealth certifications while working at a job I wanted to leave. It helped me so much!
@jjwolfe, and that's the perfect reason for going the Associates route and ladder up to a Bachelors. Having an associate degree and 90 credits using Sophia.org would give your son 3 years into a 4-year degree. He can finish UMPI BLS with a minor or an Excelsior University BSLA (Liberal Arts Studies, 60 credits are applied not arts/sciences) or BSPr (Professional Studies, again, 60 credits are applied not arts/sciences). It really depends on how he wants to do things, is he into essays, writing or more into exams? There's another easy way out, he can skip all that I mentioned above and continue working while he asks the workplace for any tuition assistance or reimbursement, many companies provide some, if there are no benefits for that, then the cheapest option is to continue working at his job, then do the 90 credits Sophia.org, skipping the Associates.
Why is it that in this forum, every aspiring tradesperson needs a DEGREE? I guess it's simply because "Degrees R Us" - this is a degree forum. Fast becoming a "laddering" forum, lately. My take: Not everyone needs a degree. I believe it's an option in this case, not a necessity. The people who run the trade can tell you what education you need and where/how to get it. The OP said his son was getting burned out. The time-burden and expense of degree studies might not be the wisest thing, about now. I suggest the OP's son concentrate first on learning the job he's hoping to do for the rest of his working life.
with respect... I think you are thinking of what you would do rather then what a kid who likes the trades and is school adverse would want to do Thanks for your thoughts.
